I've seen Die Monster, Die! and the Curse. I've also read the short story The Colour Out of Space. I find that it is unfortunate that The Curse is the closest version to Lovecraft's original story. Do yourself a favor and read the story, don't bother with either film.

I've noticed that with a lot of Lovecraft's stories, but especially those made in the 80's and 90's. Anyone ever seen The Lurking Fear? It's nothing like the short story! We go from a man investigating the mysterious slaughter of a village by subterranean beasts to some action/horror wanna-be about a bunch of people holed up in a dilapidated church with what appear to be undead monsters living underground. I'm still trying to wonder exactly how they did a film for Cool Air, especially when that story was maybe what? 10 pages? In all honesty, if you want the feel of Lovecraft, just read the damn stories!

Saw this one as a kid, found quite boring. The image of the apples stuffed with worms stuck with me for a while, though. If you ever have kids that eat too much fruit and not enough candy bars, that's the way to solve it, show them this movie.

Logged

Due to the horrifying nature of this film, no one will be admitted to the theatre.

I believe "Cool Air" has been adapted several times. It's the second segment in the horror antho movie NECRONOMICON: BOOK OF THE DEAD, but I haven't seen any of the others.

I do agree that "The Colour Out of Space" is far superior in the original short story than in any adaptation, but I would far rather watch Karloff than Wil Wheaton any day of the week (and twice on Sunday).

BLEEDERS is also an awful adaptation of "The Lurking Fear"...in fact the only really GOOD adaptation of Lovecraft to date is the silent CALL OF CTHULHU. Hopefully that will change with the Lovecraft Society's new adaptation of "The Whisperer in the Darkness".

There's also "Dreams in the Witch-House" from the Masters of Horror series, although I found some parts were a little too cliched. I think the story would have worked better if they had kept it in the time period of the story, rather than trying to contemporize it. Still, it's done by Stuart Gordon (who did "Re-Animator"), and it does a relatively decent job of setting up the story. It also keeps the Lovecraft mood where you can't win, and any attempt to stand up to the forces of darkness will only result in you dead or insane.

I think Lovecraft stories are just too tough to film by their very nature. Imagine trying to do an adaptation of "The Shadow Out of Time". Although I must say "The Colour Out of Space" would make an excellent anthology adaptation. It's creepy enough to sustain the tension for one hour (or half an hour) without you having to pad it out too much. Too bad the guys behind this movie didn't know how to pull off the horror, apparently.

There's also "Dreams in the Witch-House" from the Masters of Horror series, although I found some parts were a little too cliched. I think the story would have worked better if they had kept it in the time period of the story, rather than trying to contemporize it. Still, it's done by Stuart Gordon (who did "Re-Animator"), and it does a relatively decent job of setting up the story. It also keeps the Lovecraft mood where you can't win, and any attempt to stand up to the forces of darkness will only result in you dead or insane.

I think Lovecraft stories are just too tough to film by their very nature. Imagine trying to do an adaptation of "The Shadow Out of Time". Although I must say "The Colour Out of Space" would make an excellent anthology adaptation. It's creepy enough to sustain the tension for one hour (or half an hour) without you having to pad it out too much. Too bad the guys behind this movie didn't know how to pull off the horror, apparently.

Del Toro has been working on "At the Mountains of Madness" for years. Hopefully that project will bear fruit some day. He does a good job with dark fantasy, and I like his serious efforts better than his simple action flicks (Hellboy films, etc.).

I'd love to see a well-crafted film version of "The Shadow Out of Time." It has such great atmosphere, and the telling reminds me of Burroughs' Barsoom series. The polyps have always been a favorite monster of mine - Lovecraft usually gave us just enough information for our imaginations to run with. There's actually a pretty cool illustration of one in a compendium of mythos monters.

For a version of "The Colour of Space," try Boris Karloff's "Die, Monster, Die!" (1965). It's a much better effort.

If you like Lovecraftian movies, you absolutely have to check out "The Resurrected" (1992). I have a review here:

Since "Dagon" has been mentioned, I'll add my liking of it. I especially like to point out Francisco "Paco" Rabal's performance as Ezequiel in the film. I'd put it as one of the 50 best performances I've seen in any horror film. I'd also add, this would be his last screen appearance, before he died that same year.